Artemis Fowl: The Lochness
by ASoldiersLamb
Summary: Now physically eighteen, Artemis finds himself caught in a complicated and dangerous situation once again. This time, however, the People are in danger as well, and it's up to Artemis to save the people from exposure... unsure of all allies... A/M H/T
1. The Tunnel

Vienna, Austria. September 1, 2010 11:08 AM

Butler had checked the entire block for anything dangerous, but it seemed to already have been done. If he wasn't so sure, he'd have sworn he'd come back in time and made the necessary arrangements prior to his visit. It appeared as though Artemis' associate was as paranoid as he himself was.

Despite Butler's small relaxation due to security, Artemis seemed particularly frustrated and short tempered. It seemed that his tolerance for anything particularly cold or hot was no better than it had been almost nine years earlier, respectively. The pale youth shivered slightly and sighed heavily, casting the frosty ghost of his frustration to the whipping wind just before entering their destination. He really did despise the snow.

Artemis and Butler stepped out of the cold and into a small cafe in North Vienna. Those nearer the door drew back from the cold and grumbled about the weather. Artemis quickly took in the profiles of every attendant in the room and continued to the back where a blond haired teenage girl sat in front of an inactive chess board. Artemis quickly took in the authentically elaborate imperial Romanov coat, white cashmere sweater, and Armani shoes.

She tucked a curl behind her ear and gestured for the two to sit down across from her. Artemis took a seat without hesitation and removed his gloves. Psychologically, a gesture to show that he was confident in his power over the meeting. Though neither had ever met in person, both had agreed to meet in a place far from home that would give no advantage to either.

Artemis had never really felt this leery of a meeting before in his life. This girl, Claudia Meduare, had been a challenger on Artemis' website. she'd even played a virtual game of chess with him and kept him up nearly all through the night.

After Artemis had returned home from Hybras and settled with his family again, he'd ceased his criminal acts for the greater good. So, through his need to manipulate and succeed, he began a website where all of the students at St. Bartleby's could log on and compete in chess matches for the top places. Of course, Artemis didn't completely overlook his ability to hack the computers of every person that logged on. His project reached a new elation when a foolish teacher logged on from a main frame computer on campus instead of a laptop. Suddenly, Artemis had access to everything in the school's mainframe.

Not long after the summer holidays started, the website attendants began to include people all around Ireland and quickly spread with the boys as they went on Holiday all over Europe. That's when this girl beat everyone in the running all the way up the charts to challenge the moderator of the website. Artemis, unable to turn down a challenge, took her up on her offer. That one game lasted six hours. Afterward, he had traced her computer, curious as to her level of intelligence. Much to his dismay, however, the laptop proved to be brand new with no meaningful documentation on it what-so-ever.

"You start, Bashkir." she stated simply, her accent untraceable to him. Artemis quickly adopted his Russian mental persona and moved his first piece, careful not to make the same first move as he did when he first challenged this girl. Several moves were made and unmade, creating distress in both teens. Though neither showed it. After a couple of hours, Claudia blew a warm breath into bony hands. Even Artemis had noticed the temperature in the room drop steadily as they played, and the color had visibly risen in her cheeks. It was a bit endearing.

"Check Mate." She said, breaking the two hour silence between them as she moved the last piece. Artemis stared for a moment at the board, then at her, utter awe in his face. she smiled at him slightly, then pulled a small box out of hr coat pocket. She slid it across the table to him and wrapped her scarf around her neck.

"Arrivederci, and a happy Birthday to you, Stefan." She said, then left the cafe in a gust of freezing air. Inside were two green shamrock cuff clips nestled onto a small piece of paper. He gave Butler a confused look and, after tugging the paper out from under them, showed Butler the cuff clips. Butler examined them closely while Artemis unfolded the note.

_Artemis,_

_A very well played game, but a hacker can be traced, no matter how precise the break in. _

The words were written in a very professional cursive. Clearly she had the confidence to show her handwriting, and the words screamed for a decent challenge. Artemis crushed the paper into his fist tightly.

"This is far from over, Butler." He growled.

"Of course, Artemis," Butler replied as they left the cafe, "After all, it isn't Stefan's birthday."

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Commander Trouble Kelp was a well renowned officer of the Lower Elements Police with countless decorations and high honors. At the moment, the proud Commander was locked in fierce battle... with the upper left drawer of his desk. A difficultly inconspicuous Major Short stood in the doorway, leaning on the frame and trying her damnedest not to laugh out loud. After a while, she had run out of her clichéd luck.

"War wages on, eh Commander?" She asked through her laughter. he shot up with a start and slammed his head into the underside of his desk with a resonating bang! He cried out as he got to his feet and fell into his chair. He rubbed the back of his head, his fingers getting a bit lost in his out of regulation length hair and pale blue sparks dancing around his skull and neck.

"I don't get it, Major. The drawer opened just fine when I opened in this evening, now it won't open for anything." He said. Holly smiled.

"Julius prized that drawer. he thought he was the only one who knew how to open it. I guess he never thought I'd matter." Holly walked around to the drawer and fell to her knees to reach it. She grabbed the handle, thrust the drawer up with all of her strength, then to the right, and threw all her weight into it. With a simple tug, the drawer slid open on it's wheels. Holly gave Trouble a look of smug satisfaction.

"I hate you." He said with a smile. He reached into the drawer as she got to her feet. Foaly's face appeared on the opposite wall as he paged the Commander.

"Were you planning on having that situation in Scotland handled before dawn, Commander?" He asked.

"Do you talk to every Commander like and understudy, Foaly?" Trouble responded. Holly smiled.

"What situation in Scotland?" Holly asked, looking between the two.

"Just a bunch of tourists in the Loch Ness aqua tunnel. It's supposed to have been blocked off because of instability. If it surfaces again, we'll be faced with another mass mind wipe. I don't think I've been commander long enough for the council to overlook a mass mind wipe with a simple reprimand. They'll chew me out until there's nothing left." Holly sniggered.

"I'll do what I can, Commander." Holly said. Trouble looked back at her.

"Who said I needed you to do anything, Short?" Holly blinked, momentarily unable to think of anything. Trouble smiled. "Get your gear, Major. I'll get rid of the crowd, and you do what you can to stop that tunnel from going topside."

"Yes sir," Holly responded, "But I'm driving."


	2. Never as Powerfull

**"Epitome."**

**"E-P-I-T-O-M-E. Meaning the prime example of or a brief overview of written works from the Greek." Myles answered without a second's hesitation. **

**"Very Good." Artemis nodded his approval. He'd grown to take a lot of pride in the twins over the last three years. Myles was eager to learn as much as he could, and Artemis found himself almost just as eager to teach as it seemed. **

**He trudged through the green hills of Ireland with his younger brother, simply enjoying the rare warm sun as it followed a recent downpour of rain. Once, Artemis had been pleased that there was so much dreary rain in Ireland, but now he found himself longing for sunlight every once and a while. Not as though he'd live in the American south east, but to simply feel the sun sometimes. He blamed the magic he'd once had. It'd been three years since he had relinquished the magic, but it still left him with odd pulls to the moon, insomnia, and a longing for the outdoors and nature. **

**Myles picked at the sleeve of his jacket in a very Artemis manor. He'd shown a great interest in becoming just as intelligent as his older brother and had, to Artemis' great relief, ceased calling him a simple-toon. Myles and Beckett had lost the infant blond hair, to be replaced with a very Angeline-like red color. The sound of Artemis' phone ringing broke his momentary blissful silence. **

**"Artemis." He answered. He'd only recently given his number to other associates of his father's business. He had to appear as though he were planning on taking the business, no matter how little interest Artemis held in common marketing. "Thank-You, Butler." He hung up the phone and stopped, Myles imitating him. He looked at his little brother.**

**"Mother says that the Paradizo's have arrived and that she would like us home to clean up before the party." Myles' expression changed to that of excitement and he took off towards the house as fast as his little legs could carry him. Artemis smiled and continued towards the house at his normal pace. Minerva Paradizo. He hadn't found a moment to meet with her or even speak with her since his return home. Well, he had found the time. After all, he'd found the time to design a website that now had hits all over Europe and into parts of Asia, meet with his best challenger in person, and teach his brother the basics of several major languages. It was she that had never found the time. **

**He let his mind wander back to that day in Spain when he'd seen her. He had noticed that she hadn't panicked or run with the crowd, but he should have seen the signs that these reactions screamed. He'd just been too distracted by the demon. He would never admit to himself that it was the distraction that she and the Spanish driver posed. Now that he thought back on it, she'd been very young looking. He almost felt wrong to have seen her that way. He had to remind himself that she was several months older than him now. Just as well, he almost physically slapped himself when he remembered the Spanish woman. Sure, Minerva had been a bit striking for a twelve year old, but the driver had been a grown woman, and now that his head was stable he knew that fatal diseases were not the most horrible trial a body could endure. No, that was hormones, and the driver could only have been able to distract someone in hormonal struggle. **

**Artemis walked up the drive to see a very nice rented Porsche 911 Turbo painted in sleek black and a nine-year-old pouring over it, wide-eyed five year old twins at his side. There was a young woman with a calf length double-button coat over an Emerald sweater leaning against the driver's side. Her face was hidden with locks of long blond curls as her fingers flew over the keypad of her cell phone. He noticed that her hair had become more relaxed over the years and the curls were more loose than they had been.**

"**Well, well Ma'amselle Meduare. Not only did you hack into my computer system, but now you've seen fit to trespass." He said, a wicked humor in his voice. She looked up, a pair of very over-alert green eyes met his. It took only an instant before she had placed his connection to that Alias, but even that instant was, in Artemis' opinion, to delayed. He thought about the time changes, but it was late afternoon in Ireland and only about an hour later in France. So, her sleep schedule was not off. Perhaps Mademoiselle Claudia Meduare was a more widely used alias, and Minerva Paradizo was often in situations that called for an alias. **

"**One does not complain when hypocrisy is the crime at hand. do not complain because I was better prepared than the 'great Artemis Fowl'." Artemis scowled, her delayed initial reaction still on his mind. As well as those curls... **

"**She's become almost as powerful as you are, hasn't she, Artemis?" Butler asked as they walked away. Artemis stopped and looked back for a moment, a smirk on his face. **

"**No, Butler. I don't think I could be as powerful as she is now, no matter how hard I tried," Butler arched an eyebrow and Artemis smirked up at him, "I don't have a body like that." He smiled as he walked away.**

"**And that's when you know Artemis fowl the Second is officially a teenager." Butler mumbled to himself as he walked towards the house after the eighteen year old. **


	3. recalls the 1930's

Holly was never really one for swimming in full gear. Though Foaly had sworn to her that there would be no malfunctions and the suit was completely watertight, she still felt like any odd shift in the water was going to fry her to a crisp with her electronics.

She heard Trouble laugh openly in her helmet. No doubt he was checking her readings and fining it hilarious that she was jumpy as hell. Once again, Major Holly short did not like water. She was a land and sky elf for sure. Trouble, who had swam ahead of her once they got into open water, was a natural in the water. So much for Holly's Haven city upbringing, Trouble and Grub Kelp had Atlantian blood and water was second nature to them.

"You gonna be alright Short? You can take the tunnel job if you're more comfortable."

"Don't patronize me, Commander!" She retorted.

"I am not patronizing you! I'm only trying to help you out. Plus, your vitals are flashing in the corner of my helmet display and it's driving me nuts. So, take the tunnel job, or calm yourself down. Got that?"

"Yes Sir." Holly rolled her eyes inside her helmet and sighed. As much as it would kill her pride, she knew that she'd much rather take the tunnel duty to attempting to restrain the tunnel itself. Trouble laughed again.

"What?!" Holly demanded.

"I won't talk if you decide to take the tunnel boys down."

"Deal." Holly responded and swam faster to get inside the tunnel.

Entering the tunnel through one of the air locks was a bit complicated considering the power to the tunnel had been shut off for decades. Once inside, Holly activated the helmet lights, filling the massive tunnel with illumination. To her surprise, there wasn't a trace of life in the tunnel. Thermal scans even came up cold. One particularly cold spot being a small box with a flashing red light on it. Holly's heart raced as she observed the device. Completely unfamiliar to her. That's what made it even worse. It was a human device. She pulled Foaly up on her helmet's list of contacts, and she was instantly connected to his base.

"Foaly! I need you to tell me how to disable a human made explosive, now."

"Calm down. This should be fairly easy, really. I just need a clear image of the device first." Holly looked at the box it's ominous red light blinking ever brighter in her eyes as it ticked away.

"Right. I need you to find the wires." Foaly said after a few moments.

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Artemis sat in the great lounge surrounded by people he only knew through his father's business, resenting the attempted celebration. He tapped his fingers impatiently on the side of the Champagne flute in his hand, waiting for the birthday aspect of the party to pass so he could go back to his office and be free of the room full of people he disdained.

"Ah, Artemis fowl!" a voice boomed in a thick French accent. Artemis looked up, then got to his feet to greet Gaspard Paradizo, one of the few men from the guest list he actually enjoyed the company of to an extent. Gaspard was a colorful character with a wonderful sense of humor and a cheery disposition. The woman on his arm looked only a few years older than Artemis, but he just presumed that it was the way of single wealthy men to find young stunning women.

"Gaspard, how nice to see you. And this is...?" He shook Gaspard's hand and gestured to the blond woman next to him in the burgundy gown and elbow high satin gloves.

"Ah, yes! Artemis, this is my fiancé, Lucy." Artemis shook her hand politely, delighting in his acting abilities.

"I see that you were inspired by the celebrity life of the early twentieth century." He gestured to her gown and gloves. She gave him a confused look and he tried very hard not to roll his eyes.

"your attire recalls the 1930's red carpet." realization dawned.

"Oh! Yes. That's exactly it. How observant, isn't he, Gaspard?" Gaspard nodded and smiled.

"Of course, Cherie, Artemis is like Minerva. Brilliant from day one. Well, I should be off to find your father. Happy Birthday, my boy." He clasped Artemis' shoulder before striding away with Lucy on his arm.

"Don't be fooled, Artemis," came a quiet French accent. Artemis whipped around to see Minerva had taken a seat in the armchair he had occupied not long before. Her gown was an off white and nowhere near as obnoxious as her future step mother's, "The woman is smarter than she looks, and vicious like you would not believe. I'd say I'm glad to be going off soon, but I'm not. Now I'll just be worried about Beau." The corner of her mouth quirked up, " I guess it's a good thing he already goes to a boarding school. Now she can't threaten the cliche that step mothers do." She got to her feet lithely. Artemis noted a sort of grace that did not accompany a successful young woman, but more so a powerful and intimidating one. It startled him to identify the similarity of movement to a younger Butler. raw power hidden behind a sophisticated facade.

"It looks as though they might start singing soon, so Happy Birthday to you, but I don't think I'll stick around for the festivities." She smiled a little and turned to walk out into the back garden. Artemis made to follow but knew it was too late. They were beginning to flag him down for the Birthday celebration.


End file.
